Asian Public Art News
Art and similar interventions in public space. Coverage moves outwards from Singapore through Asia to the rest of the world. Like nothing else, the idea of "public art" exposes the contradiction inherent in our ideas of "the public" and of "art".

I get the almost last word, agreeing with Justin Loke of Vertical Submarine:

"Peter Schoppert agrees: 'I would love to see more thoughtful and careful interventions involving art in public spaces. Some of that could be in the form of big expensive sculptures or screens in public places, but there are lots of other possibilities, including temporary installations, flash mob interventions, more gardens and plants, stickers and other clever kinds of urban graphic art that is respectful of property and safety.

'And if we do put more expensive sculptures and screens in, I hope that people commissioning works devote more thought to the process, involving people, including artists and curators, involving the architects, and really having a robust conversation about art in public places.'

Bottom line is, each sculpture should of course enliven its surrounding, but if it can also open up a vein of interaction between the artist, the exhibition space and the public, then it becomes a true masterpiece."

Thanks Zaki - hope IS will continue to keep its eye on Singapore's public art.

Saturday, October 17, 2009
Have you ever wondered what Singapore would be like, if positive thinking and encouragement were part of the national psyche?

Read Common People's fascinating interview with low-profile, legal graffiti public artist and national cheerer-upper JJ. A wonderful intervention into Singapore's public space, whether its taxi interiors or lift-lobbies. The project is a bit like Bookcrossing, in that people receiving these post-it messages can go to JJ's blog to report on their impact. Well spotted CommonPeople (as usual).

Finally decided to upgrade the nusantara.com/pasta database of Singapore public art over to its next generation version, at www.publicart.sg. The new site, still a-building, is much more interactive, allowing for comments, voting on works, and group authoring. Also lots of fun integration with Facebook, Google Maps, Flickr and the like. All enabled by the super open-source community/content management system Drupal.

Please come have a look. I really want to make the database less of trainspotter's strange personal hobby and more of an enabler of conversations about Singapore's public art and landscape.

Lovely public art intervention as part of the Singapore Night Festival. Inspired by the banyan tree just nearby, with dangling microphones substituting for aerial roots. It responds quietly to the ambient sounds. This is a slightly "drama" capture by Draken413o. The Tree is created by FARM, the art/design collective that runs the ROJAK series of events.

Other interventions as part of the Night Festival were also successful and popular, including Sun Yu Li's LED piece and Donna Ong's Crystal City inside the Museum. Attended the first part of Substation's entry, Amanda Heng's Let's Walk Some More, which paid attention to the lost and missing as well as the spectacular.

"Are you bold enough to challenge the official strategy? Are you humble enough to listen to your surroundings and cooperate with the general public in shaping your art project?

Window for dialogue want to open up familiar sites in Singapore and develop tactical responses to exclusive city planing, commercialization of everyday life and public exclusion in decision making. Concerned with the shifting notions of site-specific art, and the emerging informal public sphere, it is the objective of Window for dialogue to experiment with public participation in the constructive process of public space and initiate a dialogue about how the public sphere is utilized. This will be achieved by inviting the general public, in corporation with artists, academics and the authorities to partake in the creation of public site-specific artworks."

Last Tuesday I walked across Raffles Place for a meeting nearby. I purposely chose a route that would allow me to walk through the area, one of the more important (and usually quite pleasant) public spaces in Singapore. My mood was spoiled very quickly.

I'm not sure I've ever seen anything quite as disturbing as these "Fashionista Horseshoe" things placed around Raffles Place. This amalgam of hindquarters, high-heeled shoe and horsehead pressed to the ground is simply spooky. As I read in the Sunday Times of May 10, the sculptures, commissioned by the Singapore Turf Club, are shown "perched atop giant shoeboxes". (But not giant enough to actually be capable of holding the horseshoes I can't help but note.)

From the Sunday Times I also learned that these "Fashionista Horseshoes" were placed at Junction8, Plaza Singapura and Clarke Quay by CapitaLand, in addition to Raffles Place.

I guess this blog's (fading) commitment to cover public art means I have to look at stuff like this an comment, but really it's too depressing.